Posts Tagged ‘Hachiroku’

In the tuner world, the AE86 platform should be considered one of the most important and influential gems that has come from Japanese engineering and research. Even with today's sophisticated technology being used to develop high-performance machines with more than twice the power of a Hachi-Roku, it's hard to forget what this amazing little car did for the general public. Despite the fact that the machine didn't have some of the better features and strengths of some of the other cars its age and younger, it had one great sense of appeal to it: the price.

The common man didn't have to settle with just dreaming about the AE86 and gazing over pictures of its bodywork in magazines. No, instead, the common man could actually get behind the wheel of one since a new, fully-loaded CorollaGT-S would cost on average $12,000 at the time. And though AE86 became the last generation of the affordable front-engine, rear-wheel-drive compact from Toyota (until the FR-S/FT-86, we hope), it is still remembered, still used and still loved by the common man. And that love is why the Bay Area joins together each year to celebrate this iconic vehicle. I give you The Bay Area 8-6 Day meet! Read more...

A couple of weeks ago, I shed some light on the Comrades FC3S Truckasaurus RX7 from Fatlace WordUp!, a drift and gymkhana session in held once a month in Santa Clara, CA. The event is only open to 15 drivers and members of the media - no spectators are allowed. It is the closest thing we have to Drift Day in the Bay Area and is centered on providing a safe venue for those who wish to better their skills in a safe environment.
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From what I can tell most of our Mavens live in warm places somewhere in the USA, with very little snow to speak of except for that white stuff that collects at the top of the mountains. For those of us here in Ontario, Canada however, snow is something we’ve grown up with; at this point it would be weird for most of us to see a winter without it.

With that being said, we here in the Drift Posse camp have always been very much of the belief that our annual winter practice regimen is what keeps our boys fresh in their drivers’ seats for the upcoming drift season, and this year is no different. (more…)

March 1, 2011. Today on the first of the month, nothing is more important, not even the crazy things that Charlie Sheen has been doing lately, than the latest FT-86 concept. Barely wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I unveiled the FT-86, in my virtual showroom on my laptop scrolling ever so slowly through to page so to remind myself that THIS-IS-REAL… that I am not dreaming, nor am I as high as Charlie Sheen. Read more...

Making this video was absolutely insane, but an awesome experience. Drift Mania Canadian Championship Round 4 was the only night-time round scheduled for DMCC this year, and it was my first time really doing a night-time event outside of my hometown. (It was also my first time really partying all night outside of my hometown, but that’s probably for a different post.) The most staggering thing about this event was that the entire event took place on one day, with all the practice sessions and qualifying during the day, and competition starting in the evening and going into the night.

In this video, the Drift Posse team is represented by Brad Carlton driving a grey and black 240sx s13 and Pat Cyr in his trusty F20 turbo-powered hachiroku. Some other notable appearances include Matt Waldin in his flame spitting 350z, who once again proved that his motto of stone cold consistency is a proven formula to getting wins. Surprisingly, Fred Girard and the Rockstar Energy 240sx decided to put a happy note on what has otherwise been a pretty tough season by taking the #2 podium spot.

HAHAHAHA AWESOME! I love how people have been uploading all their old VHS videos to YouTube. I wonder how many people have seen this old school video!

It’s not the craziest drifting action video or anything, but that’s not the point anyway. I love it because it shows the real style and culture of hashiriya life in Japan. This is what it’s really like… just a bunch of friends screwing around and having fun with their cars!

This particular video features a particular AE86 crew based in the Tokyo/Fussa area; these are the members of a drift team with a pretty strange name… Hey Man! (As if all drift team names weren’t strange.) I love this video because it shows old school footage of some of my real good friends that I hang out with when I’m in Japan.

The driver intros are pretty funny too… these guys look soooo young in the video! This video has a special cameo appearance by none other than Hiroshi Takahashi (Kaicho) from the legendary AE86 drift team, RUNNING FREE. The very first time I met Hiroshi was when he came out to Buttonwillow Raceway (2000? 2001?) to do a drift demo here in the United States as part of a special event hosted by SpeedTrial USA and Club4AG. (Props to Tommy and Moto for arranging that event!) Hiroshi is an AWESOME drifter, and a dedicated Toyota guy… in fact, he now works at one of the Toyota dealers in the Tokyo area. (I won’t say which one, so people don’t go and bug him at work.)

Shinji Minowa, who’s rocking an old school surfer haircut in the video, eventually became a D1 Grand Prix driver sponsored by Toyo Tires. He actually came out with Hiroshi to do the drift demo at Buttonwillow, which was the first time we met. Since then I’ve had the chance to hang out with him in Japan and the USA several times. Just like all the other members of the Hey Man crew, Shinji is super cool. He has a shop near the Yokota area called Hey Man Products… Anyway, if you’re interested in seeing more stuff about Shinji, his AE86 and his shop, let me know. I can probably arrange it!

This video also features some in-car footage with Charlie Tyson! Again, this video isn’t super crazy like one of Ueo’s sick manji videos or anything, but it’s one of the few times I’ve seen Charlie on a video, so I think it’s cool. He’s a pretty low key guy, but the crazy thing is, he’s the very first member of the Hey Man crew that I ever interacted with; he helped me get a set of redline taillights for my kouki AE86 back in 1999 or 2000 when I didn’t even know him! (Thanks a lot to PJ Peji for hooking that up!)

We also see other friends like Jimmy, Maurice, and Christine in the video… but the guy with the Hitler mustache is none other than Robbie Nishida, who most US drifting fans know. I was introduced to Robbie at the Ebisu Circuit booth at Tokyo Auto Salon in 2004. Kumakubo introduced him as a good friend of his, but then I recognized his face from an old AE86 video I had… I think it was an AE86 Club video, but I’m not sure. Robbie told us he would be interested in drifting in the United States, so my friend Kenta and I walked over to the other side of the show with him and introduced him to Nick Fousekis from Falken Tires. In fact, Kumakubo walked over with us too, and he told Nick if Falken would sponsor Robbie with tires, Kumakubo would let Robbie drive one of his own cars. (The famous K-Style S13 K-truck!!!)

At the very first American drift event he ever competed at (Formula D Wall Speedway 2005), Robbie made Formula D history by beating Mopar’s unbeatable Iceman, Samuel Hubinette in a tandem battle! It was pretty damn epic for that time. Everyone was like whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!! I remember the reaction in the pit area and grandstands… EVERYONE was going bananas and jumping up and down when the judges announced that Robbie won the tandem match. It didn’t matter if they were supporters of Falken or not… even people from other tire brands were jumping up and down, because they had never seen anyone beat Samuel in tandem until that day. What a good way to start your drifting career in the USA!

Anyway, Robbie will be driving an R35 Nissan GTR in this year’s Formula D Championship series, so if you see him at an event, make sure to walk up to him and say, “Hey Man!”

One of the many things I love about the AE86 is its nimble handling. Look at the tight area in which this driver pulls off this maneuver and you’ll understand exactly what I mean – short, sweet, and to the point. Hachi lovers I hope you are watching and paying close attention to the in-car footage – there will be a pop quiz when you least expect it. Samuel Hubinette may have borrowed this as his signature move, but this Hachi turns it out!

While searching for great footage of AE86s in honor of Hachiroku day, our goal was to find something a little different, maybe some racing footage. We came across this Katshuhiro Ueo video that 86 John did an awesome remix of. Ueo always provided sick AE86 action and we couldn’t resist this video – there is some epic driving going on! Ueo’s dope skills and the nimble handling the AE86 are something to behold. Don’t forget to Check out Steven Starr’s video posts for more Hachiroku action. Enjoy!

Take a look back at this RiceboyTV video highlighting legendary AE86 driver Toshiki Yoshioka. This video dropped just after Yoshioka’s win at Formula Drift Las Vegas last year. You should recognize another equally legendary AE86′er… Antonio Alvendia interviewing Yoshioka as he gives some insight as to why his hachiroku is so fast and competitive. I had the pleasure of meeting Yoshioka at D1 in Chicago this past weekend and I have to say, the fact that he gives his trophies to his sponsors is truly amazing! It is that kind of selfless dedication and team effort that I think we can all take cue from.